Why ‘Wolf Warriors 2’ Had a Record-Setting Roar in China

With $775 million and counting as of Aug. 21, director and star Wu Jing’s “Wolf Warriors 2” has easily become China’s highest-grossing movie ever, thanks to a favorable schedule, a massive audience salivating for something worth going to the theater for — and a distinctly Chinese approach to a shoot-‘em-up epic.

The film, which stars Wu as Leng Feng, a special-ops soldier who attempts to rescue trapped Chinese civilians from the midst of an African civil war, passed Stephen Chow’s “The Mermaid,” which was the first homegrown Chinese film to break the $500 million mark at the country’s box office. “Wolf Warriors 2” is also the only Chinese movie to crack the all-time worldwide top 100 in box office gross.

While U.S. box office has endured an abysmal summer, why has director Wu Jing’s adventure been so dominant? Here are three key factors behind the unprecedented success of “Wolf Warriors 2”:

“Wolf Warriors 2” hit cinemas from Shanghai to Shenzhen during the country’s unofficial summer blackout period, when films from Hollywood are kept out of theaters to make way for homegrown fare.

The last American import to grace China’s multiplexes this year was “Despicable Me 3,” which hit theaters July 7 and grossed $153 million in the country — and isn’t exactly direct competition for a shoot-em-up action flick like “Wolf Warriors 2.” And prior to that, “Transformers: The Last Knight” came to China, where it underwhelmed with $229 million — far less than the $320 million its predecessor grossed in the country.

By the time “Wolf Warrior 2” premiered on July 27, the field was clear. And while the movie didn’t carpet-bomb the country like last year’s “Warcraft,” which opened on 67 percent of China’s screens, “Wolf Warriors 2” was able to start with a healthy 42 percent of the country’s screens and take off from there.

With about 40 days left until the end of the third quarter, the domestic box office is at just $1.1 billion total — well off last year’s pace, when the box office for those three months was nearly $3 billion. “Spider-Man: Homecoming” earned a respectable $314 million domestically and $725 million worldwide since its July 7 release, but it’s been pretty barren other than that.

The slump has absolutely devastated movie theater stocks, as Americans have been voting with their wallets in favor of alternative entertainment options. But in China, where the box office had been growing at more than 10 percent a year before flat-lining last year, there’s a constantly expanding market with plenty of demand for a night at the movies that hadn’t been met by Hollywood or a weak local slate. “Spider-Man” hasn’t even made it to China.

Other Chinese films have been blessed with a relatively clear field and pent-up demand, but there’s another reason “Wolf Warriors 2” was able to take off to such a degree at the Chinese box office: its patriotic and muscular pro-China message was clearly what the country’s audience was craving.

Wu’s hero Leng Feng kicks some serious tail — with major-league action sequences and special effects — but he’s always working as a small part of a larger whole. His mission is to evacuate his countrymen and women, and an omnipotent Chinese military looms large throughout the film.

“Maybe people have kept their patriotism buried for too long,” Wu told Chinese online publication Sixth Tone. “That passion has become somewhat like dry wood, but my movie is like the spark to light it again.”

At the same time Wu’s film was burning up the box office, China’s regulators made their informal crackdown on entertainment deals official, putting an apparently permanent wrench in the firehose of cash that had been flowing into Hollywood until a few months ago. But if China can keep cranking out movies like “Wolf Warriors 2,” they might not need to do as much shopping abroad.

Hollywood's 22 Biggest Box Office Champs in China (Photos)

Chinese moviegoers love to spend their hard-earned yuan on Hollywood blockbusters like "Captain America: Civil War," "Avatar" and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." Comedies and dramas? Not so much. Read on to see which American hits have raked in the most money (according to BoxOfficeMojo) in that nation across the Pacific.

Disney/Marvel/Lucasfilm/Fox

"Furious 7" (2015)

$390.9 million

The Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson revved-up action flick is easily the highest-grossing Hollywood movie ever in China. The late Paul Walker remains among China's most beloved American actors.

Universal

"Transformers: Age of Extinction" (2014)

$320 million

Mark Wahlberg starred in the sci-fi movie based on the foldable toys, which was co-produced by two Chinese firms and was the first Hollywood movie to make more than $300 million in the Middle Kingdom.

Paramount

"Avengers: Age of Ultron" (2015)

$240.1 million

The superhero mashup is China's highest-grossing Marvel Cinematic Universe film, a franchise that's been embraced by the country's young-leaning moviegoers.

Marvel

"Zootopia" (2016)

$235.6 million

The buddy-cop comedy is the highest-grossing imported animated film in the history of the Chinese box office, and it played especially well in China's second- and third-tier cities.

Disney

"Jurassic World" (2015)

$228.7 million

Like "Furious 7," the dinosaur sci-fi adventure was produced by Legendary Entertainment, which was acquired by China's Dalian Wanda Group in January.

Universal

"Warcraft" (2016)

$220.8 million

Another Legendary film, this one inspired by a video game series, flopped in the U.S. but dominated the Chinese market, which is home to about half of the video game's players worldwide.

Universal

"Avatar" (2009)

$204.1 million

The worldwide smash hit also captivated Chinese audiences, even back in 2009, when the country's box office was a fraction of the size that it is today.

The prequel to this film, 2009's "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," made $65.8 million in China, setting the stage for "Dark of the Moon" to be the country's highest-grossing Hollywood film since "Avatar" at the time.

Paramount

"Kung Fu Panda 3" (2016)

$154.3 million

The Mandarin-language version of the movie starring Jack Black as a friendly fighting bear had the characters reanimated so their mouths moved naturally with the translated words.

DreamWorks

"The Jungle Book" (2016)

$150.1 million

The live-action/animation hybrid was a hit in several international markets, especially India, and it also played well throughout China.

Disney

"Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation" (2015)

$135.7 million

China's Alibaba Pictures invested in "Rogue Nation," and star Tom Cruise visited several Chinese cities to promote the film, helping it open strong and stick around in theaters even though its China debut came more than a month after its U.S. premiere.

Paramount

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" (2016)

$124.2 million

Despite China being one of the few markets that didn't catch "Star Wars" fever -- the movie put some people there to sleep -- Disney's promotional efforts helped it clear $100 million.

The third and final installment in Peter Jackson's "Hobbit" series was another movie that succeeded even though it was released in China well after its U.S. premiere.

Warner Bros.

"Iron Man 3" (2013)

$121.2 million

All three movies in the Robert Downey Jr. franchise have played in China, helping build brand awareness beyond just the bankable Marvel name.

Marvel

"X-Men: Apocalypse" (2016)

$12o.8 million

Disney bought Marvel Entertainment in 2009, but Fox acquired the film rights to Marvel's "X-Men" franchise before then. It doesn't seem to matter much in China, where anything Marvel often turns into a big hit.

Fox

"Captain America: The Winter Soldier" (2014)

$115.6 million

The predecessor to this year's "Civil War," "Winter Soldier" was a hit despite its fairly political content, which is usually a negative in Chinese theaters.

Marvel

"Terminator Genisys" (2015)

$113.2 million

The fifth "Terminator" film was the franchise's lowest-grossing since the 1984 original, but it was the first in the series to get a Chinese theatrical release.

Paramount

"Pacific Rim" (2013)

$111.9 million

The futuristic sci-fi adventure, in which humans battle sea monsters, is yet another fantasy action movie that Chinese audiences loved.

Warner Bros.

"Ant-Man" (2015)

$105.4 million

Yet another Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, "Ant-Man" made just $180.2 million at the domestic box office but was a much bigger hit in China.

Marvel

"San Andreas" (2015)

$103.2 million

China knows Dwayne Johnson from the "Fast and Furious" franchise, and the earthquake disaster film he headlined last year reverberated at the Chinese box office.

Chinese moviegoers love to spend their hard-earned yuan on Hollywood blockbusters like "Captain America: Civil War," "Avatar" and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." Comedies and dramas? Not so much. Read on to see which American hits have raked in the most money (according to BoxOfficeMojo) in that nation across the Pacific.